Obama will tout his “New Energy for America” plan to help create five million new green jobs over the next ten years.
Obama’s Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Van Jones, recently spoke to a group of Knight Center for Specialized Journalism fellows. Van said Obama’s energy policy is the “cornerstone of the economic recovery”:
We will power our way to economic recovery at the same time we address global warming.
He added:
We have a Saudi Arabia of wind energy, solar energy, smart biofuels and geothermal energy. We have a Saudi Arabia of renewable energy in this country.
The Green Jobs Act of 2007 provides for job training in five green industries, including weatherization and solar panel installation.
I asked Van to define “green jobs.” He responded that the “definition of green jobs is still under development”:
In the next 18 to 30 months, we will have a better definition.
The bottom line: A green-collar job is a “blue-collar job that has been updated and upskilled to better respect the environment.”
During an appearance on CNN’s “Larry King Live” last night, Van underscored the link between clean energy and economic growth:
We have the biggest investment in clean energy in the history of the world…We have to move fast. We have the technology now…We have to unleash that technology.
Everything that’s good for the environment is a job…We have to do right for our children economically by creating more jobs.
Van said Obama plans to do right by all Americans:
There’s a commitment that the recovery work for everybody and for all sectors of the country.
He observed that the U.S. doesn't have enough trained workers. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Employment Training Administration received $500 million for green-collar job training. Most of the training will be provided by community colleges.
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